Hummingbird Moth ?

[alibabba]

Yesterday evening, just at dusk, I was sitting on the front deck with my wife, when appeared before us, was what we at first took as a hummungbird.

 

I thought it look a little strange, because the wingbeat was not as fast as that of a hummingbird and it didn't make any audible sound.

 

When it hovered over one of the flowers, we got a good close look, as it was no more than 4 ft. away. The photo is from a web site that identifies it as the hornworm morphed into a moth.

 

In all my considerable years, I have never seen such a thing. Are they that rare to Southern Michigan?

 

 

[Celeste22]

I don't know about Michigan, but we usually see dozens here in Utah.

In fact, I had two hovering around my outside light tonight.

I love bugs and the hummingbird moth is one of my favorites. Quite beautiful for a moth really.

 

This website has listings and many pictures of all the moths in Michigan.

 

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/mi/toc.htm

 

Hawk moths (also called Hummingbird moths, clearwing hummingbird moths, and sphinx moths) look quite similar to hummingbirds. They belong to the lepidopteran family Sphingidae.